The Killers
by LoriHuCalmia
Summary: "Puck, why would you come here with a fake gun to commit a robbery?"/"I was hoping you'd shoot me. Then my mom wouldn't have to clean up the mess." Warnings for non-con, graphic descriptions of murder, & CHARACTER DEATH! Set in, but not part of, L-verse.
1. Enterlude

_I know I should be working on starting Look and After and Let Me Tell You a Story, but as Mia was driving, I had nothing to do but type, and this is how this monster came to be. Also, this takes place in the L-verse, so you're going to want to read Little Earthquakes, Love211, and Lucky Blurt before you read this._

_If you don't want to read them, here are the developments in each of the stories: Kurt discovered that Blaine was sexually abused in a major way, Blaine's parents gave him up and an OC named Pearl adopted him. Pearl is a member of the BAU with Emily Prentiss, who adopted Lauren after her parents were killed. Lauren and Puck are together, as are Kurt and Blaine._

_Disclaimer: I don't own "Glee" or the song, "Enterlude" by The Killers._

* * *

><p><em>"We hope you enjoy your stay.<br>It's good to have you with us,  
>Even if it's just for the day." <em>

Chapter I: Enterlude

Puck didn't look like the kind of person to feel bad about anything. He really didn't, which was why most people didn't pay him attention unless it was to fire back at an insult. He didn't look like the kind of person to hurt himself rather than someone nearby, which why people consciously started to walk in another direction the moment they saw him. And Puck didn't look like the kind of person you wanted to hug and comfort, which was why no one consciously approached him with outstretched arms.

What Puck **did** look like was a dangerous criminal whom you wanted to be armed against. Which was why, when he finally made enough noise to draw Blaine's mother, Pearl, downstairs, Puck was surprised to see that she didn't carry a weapon.

"Why are you here?" she asked in a whisper, just as surprised to see him creeping through the kitchen window. "And carrying a bubble gun?" she ran her nail the side of the toy and her finger to reveal a stripe of neon green underneath black spray paint.

"Um, I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop by," he lied.

"Through the smallest window in the house? You know, the backyard is a lot easier, if you can scale a six-foot wooden fence."

"I'm six-feet, four-inches," Puck was glad Pearl had whispered; it gave him the advantage to hide the shakiness in his voice.

"Then why on Earth didn't you sneak the back? You know sliding glass doors make a lot less noise than that, right?" Pearl walked over and shut the squeaking window for emphasis. She winced at the sound. "I wish I knew how fix that hinge. Blaine's arms are too short, I always do it wrong, and there's no way I'm going to let him on this small little windowsill," she sighed, looking so devastated that Puck moved forward to hug her. She actually took a step forward and hugged him back.

Well, that was unexpected. He faintly wondered what Lauren would say, but then he realized that, for once, someone was giving him affectionate physical contact without expecting anything erotic out of it. This was different, but strangely welcome.

"Are you sick or something?" he asked. Maybe she was still a little bit traumatized by everything Lauren had done. She might be having a psychotic break.

"No," she said truthfully. Her mouth said "I don't think so, but could you keep your voice down? Blaine has a test in History tomorrow, and I want him to get a good night's sleep before he has to take it." Her face said "If you're too loud, I will kill you with your fake gun."

Puck put his bubble gun on the windowsill and raised his hands in surrender. When Pearl's eyes fell on the gun, they turned sad. "Why did you come here with a fake gun to commit a robbery?"

"I was hoping you'd shoot me. Then my mom wouldn't have to clean up the mess," he said truthfully.

Pearl was silent for such a long time, Puck was genuinely worried she had stopped breathing. Then she looked up at him. "Puck, you didn't think this out very well."

_Here we go, a list of all the reasons my life is "wonderful."_

"My license was suspended after Kurt used my gun to shoot Ray Seetub Zizes. I have to wait six months before I can test again."

Okay, he wasn't expecting that either. "You don't have other guns or anything? Your son's gay; there are going to be people after him."

A corner of Pearl's lip turned up. "I don't need a weapon to defend my son," she said. Her voice was a little strange, but Puck nodded. If someone threatened Beth, he would beat them down into the dirt like nobody's business. But Pearl was much smaller than he was. Then again, she had had her organs cut out and survived. She was probably stronger than she looked.

She also had really, really freaky round eyes, almost perfect circles, and Puck felt like they could not only see directly into his soul, but burn it if she so wanted. "Puck, you can't go the suicide by cop route."

"Why?" Puck didn't realize how pained his voice sounded until he saw Pearl flinch. He felt awful, so he stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground, feet already anticipating Pearl's demand to get out of her house and to never darken her doorstep again. He'd obey both; there must be a bridge somewhere.

Pearl sighed and put one hand on his shoulder, which was higher than the top of her head. "Come on, let's go to the backyard. I really don't want to wake Blaine."

"Um, you're only wearing a nightgown," and not a very substantial one. The flowing white gown was edged with lace, and the thickest it could've been was…however thick flower embroidery was. Puck had no idea. Kurt was the clothes-hound, not him.

"Oh," Pearl looked down like she really had forgotten and reached into what looked like a little broom closet to pull out a pair of fluffy pink slippers and a rose-pink kimono robe dotted with little white posies. She turned when she heard Puck snort at her girlish clothing choices. "I grew up with a schizophrenic mother who didn't…really see me. I told myself that one day, I would be able to wear the kinds of clothes I wanted. And so I do," she sounded proud of herself, and Puck supposed she should be. She had pulled herself out of the gutter, just like Puck so desperately wanted to.

"You can do it too," she said seriously, taking a step closer. Puck froze. Why was someone voluntarily being in his company? Lauren liked sex, and sex he understood. But now Lauren had love, she had a mother, and Puck was trying to please his. He couldn't, which was why he was here in the first place, being led outside by a woman a quarter his size but somehow so, so much stronger.

"I'm not any better or stronger than you," she said. Puck felt a chill go down his spine. Was she reading his mind or something? No, she was too stupid to be psychic.

"You live in this kind of house. You gave me a car," Puck said slowly, as if speaking to a slow child. "There's no way I could ever get to this point?"

"Why not?" there was no accusation in her voice, just simple curiosity and maybe something that could be genuine compassion. Puck thought he might know what that sounded like.

"Because I'm not good, like you," Puck said, frustrated. "You're famous for doing the right thing all the time."

Pearl giggled. She wasn't laughing at him, but she actually found him amusing. "Puck, I'm good at being in the right place at the right time with the right people. And sometimes I make the right decision. But I have so many more advantages that can tell me what the right place, the right time, the right people, and the right decision is. You? You do the same thing with considerably less than I do. And you're going to go further, because my luck can't hold forever, but your work ethic doesn't depend on luck."

"No, it just depends on sex-deprived old women," Puck said, so much self-hatred dripping out of his mouth he was surprised Pearl wasn't running for a raincoat.

She just shook her head. "Puck, I know things are hard right now, but there are resources out there if you'd just take the time to look."

"Who's going to take care of my little sister and my mother while I take my time, huh?" Puck glared.

Pearl shrugged. "I don't know, but you and Sarah are both more than welcome to stay here if you'd like. I know Blaine gets lonely here sometimes." Her words may or may not have brought a lump to Puck's throat. He had never felt this measure of acceptance before, and it made him feel like he was coming apart at the seams.

"Are you sure?" Puck asked suspiciously. He didn't think Pearl was the kind to do favors for someone else in exchange for sex, but he felt obligated to offer anyway. "I'll blow your mind, I swear."

Pearl laughed, got up and went back inside, putting her robe over Puck when she noticed him shivering.

Puck sat there for a long time, until Pearl came back out with a completely green bubble gun in her hand. She gave it to him and he took it. "Thanks, Miss Rush," he said, wondering if he had told her that neon green was his favorite color.

"Sure. Anyone I should call to tell them where you are?" she asked.

Puck shook his head. "They're all used to me not being there, so I figured if I weren't there for a long time, no one would care."

Pearl shook her head. "You can stay in my room tonight. I'm too tired to go upstairs right now. I can drive both you and Blaine to school tomorrow, but if you disturb Blaine before his test, you're walking," she said warningly.

Puck nodded and let her leave. She wasn't very happy with him, but then again, who was? He didn't realize she had followed him upstairs until he felt about a half-ton of something soft hit him like a pile of bricks.

"I want my robe back," she said simply. He gave it to her and realized that she had tossed him sheets that weren't pink and covered in hearts. He looked about the room. It was a six-year-old girl's fantasy.

"I don't have time to clean it up right now, so the only part of your dignity I can save is going to have to be saved through those blankets," she gestured to the beige blankets he held. Puck lied down on the bed and drew the covers up to his shoulders. To his surprise, Pearl sat down next to him and pulled the covers up higher.

"What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

"I'm tucking you in," she said, sounding sad. "Do you want me to sing you a lullaby or read you a story?" she asked without a trace of sarcasm.

"No," Puck said truthfully. If she did any of that, he'd cry so hard, he'd never fall asleep, and neither would Blaine.

"Okay," she said. She kissed his forehead and turned out the lights before making her way to the door.

"Wait!" he blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Yes Puck?" she turned around expectantly, and try as he might, Puck couldn't find any impatience in her face.

"Um, can I open the curtains?" Puck wasn't afraid of the dark. He really wasn't; he just liked having at least a little light on.

"Sure," Pearl shrugged and let moonlight soak the room. Puck sank back into the bed, relaxed, and soon fell asleep.

His last thought was, hey, hadn't Pearl said she was too tired to climb up the stairs to her bedroom? But he was too relaxed to really think about it, and when he woke up the next morning, new thoughts replaced it. Like, _Gee, I should at least make breakfast to make up for last night._

When he got downstairs, he noticed Pearl already up and cooking in the kitchen. "It smells good," he lied. It smelled burnt.

Pearl turned around and he saw the toast in her pan. Well, that explained the burning-food smell.

"Mother!" Blaine sounded exasperated and proud at the same time. "You're not allowed in the kitchen, remember?"

"Am I not allowed to make breakfast every now and again?" Pearl asked sullenly as Blaine scraped the toast off the pan. "Um, I don't know how to get the ones in the toaster out," she added sheepishly.

Blaine turned and saw Puck. He didn't seem surprised. "There's a reason her nickname is Kettleburn," he muttered.

"I don't get it," Puck said. He really didn't.

Blaine's mouth fell open. "Well, then," he said with frightening determination, "I am going to make us all toast, and then you are going to read Prisoner of Azkaban."

Puck threw Pearl a pleading look, which she studiously ignored.

* * *

><p><em>I honestly don't know what I'm doing with this. Clearly, Puck's suicidal issues have to be addressed. I wrote this the day after going to my friend's funeral after he killed himself, and I'm just completely exhausted.<em>

_On the other hand, when we were supposed to blow out our candles and have a moment of silence, I blew too hard and got hot wax all over my face and hands, and I screamed._

_During a moment of silence._

_Everyone turned to look and a couple of people helped me, laughing. The other people laughed or shot me dirty looks. On the bright side, my hands smell like "Sinful Cinnamon," or whatever the candle smell was. It's a nice smell._

_Wherever he is now, I think my friend's laughing his head off._


	2. Read My Mind

_Thank you so much to the anonymous reviewer (I think you're 256, but I'm not sure) who pointed out the grammar mistakes. They've been fixed now. If you guys got two Chapter Two email alerts, sorry._

_I am so, so sorry about how delayed this update is. Like I said, I spilled hot wax over my face. It didn't really bother me at first...then my face swelled up and I couldn't see enough to type. The fact that I started crying uncontrollably when "Starry, Starry Night" started playing on the radio didn't help (I sung it at my friend's funeral)._

_Anyway, here we're going to see what happened to Puck in juvie, because I really don't like how RIB just skipped over it like it was nothing. Come on, he was freaking** arrested**!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own the song "Read My Mind" by the Killers. I also don't own Emily Prentiss from "Criminal Minds," or the show itself. (FYI, this isn't a CM/Glee crossover because only Emily appears, and only as Lauren's mother.)_

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><p><em>"I never really gave up on<em>  
><em>Breakin' out of this two-star town<em>  
><em>I got the green light<em>  
><em>I got a little fight<em>  
><em>I'm gonna turn this thing around<em>  
><em>Can you read my mind?<em>  
><em>Can you read my mind?"<em>

Chapter II: Read My Mind

"Are you boys ready?" Pearl yelled.

Puck looked at the book in his hands. It had clearly been read many, many times, but it was very loved and well-taken care of. He was a little afraid to hold it, afraid he would destroy it.

"Well, are you going to read it or not?" Blaine asked, arms crossed over his scrawny chest.

If Puck said no and pushed him hard, would Pearl kick him out of the house?

"No," Puck said, and held his hands out to push Blaine. Blaine raised his hands and took a few steps back.

"Look, Puck, whatever's bothering you, you need to tell my mother," he said.

"Just get into your car," Puck said shortly. He didn't feel like explaining how everything was his fault anymore.

Blaine looked at him in disappointment and walked outside. His mother was leaning against the side of her car, on the phone with—Blaine suspected—Puck's mother. "Oh, he's fine. No, he didn't take anything. Oh, it's no bother, really. If you would like to bring Sarah over too, it's completely fine with me. I think my son's getting a bit lonely cooped up in the house all the time. Well, of course I'm not going to let him out!" her hands clasped Blaine's shoulder with an almost painful tightness. "It's only been a few days since he was kidnapped. I think I'm entitled to my remaining neuroses," she said haughtily. Covering the bottom half of her BlackBerry with her hand, Pearl mouthed, "Where's Noah?"

Blaine looked at the door. Puck showed no signs of coming out the door, so he turned back to his mother. "I'll go find him," he promised. He walked back inside, not hearing the creak of footsteps upstairs or on the stairs. His heart started to beat faster and he ran up the stairs in record time to reach his empty bedroom.

"Mother!" Blaine's voice was nearly hysterical. "Mother, he's gone. He's disappeared. I don't know where he is."

Pearl relayed Blaine's message in a slightly more serene voice and hung up. "That was Noah's grandmother," she said worriedly. "Noah hasn't gone home for days, and they've been getting really strange phone calls ever since."

Blaine's head reeled as he took this information in. "I can ask Artie what's going on, and maybe I'll see Puck at school."

Pearl nodded and drove Blaine to school with reckless abandon to traffic laws. She passed Chief Adla Bef and the police officer simply nodded to her.

* * *

><p>Lauren was still refusing to talk to him, which meant that she still blamed him for her father's death. Not that that she was completely unjustified in blaming him; he did kill Ray Seetub Zizes. Her adoptive mother was close friends with Blaine's mother, so Ms. Prentiss and Miss Rush were over at each other's houses all the time and Blaine was staying over at Kurt's a lot more, not that Kurt was complaining. If only his dad didn't have that stupid open-door rule. And if only the nightmares would go away.<p>

Pearl Rush might be a small woman, but she had quite a pair of lungs, which Zizes hadn't removed. Kurt wasn't sure what to feel about that, since it meant he had to hear the echoes of her screaming every night. He could only imagine what Blaine heard. Then again, Blaine hadn't been able to see.

Kurt didn't realize he had run into a slushie until it was literally inches from his Dior T-shirt. Yes, Dior made T-shirts, and yes, he wore them. What did you expect?

"Hey, you," Puck took the jock and slammed him hard into the lockers. "You leave my boy alone, you got that?" he yelled.

"No-Puck," Blaine called from behind Kurt. "Wow, I'm so glad! You know, Mother and I spent a lot of time looking for you this morning!"

"Your mother's screwing Puck?" Kurt was disgusted.

So was Blaine. "No! She wouldn't do that. Puck showed up last night. She won't tell me why," Blaine looked confused.

"Give me a second," Puck said before turning and screaming at the jock until he ran away. He turned back to the couple. "Look, I can't go home, okay? I'd put people in danger." He stared at his shoes, a look of shame on his face. "I only stayed at your house last night because I thought you and your mother could defend yourselves."

Blaine frowned. "Puck, what are you talking about?"

Puck just shook his head and walked away. Kurt tugged on Blaine's arm until the former Warbler turned. "Come on, I think I know someone who can help us get to the bottom of this."

* * *

><p>Emily put as many oranges as she could into the plastic Target bag before she made her way over to the house where she knew Lauren snuck out every night. The girl was getting to be incorrigible, but that wasn't why she was on her way there today. Someone had asked for her late last night.<p>

"Hi," Emily smiled at the woman who opened the door, "my name is Emily Prentiss. I'm Lauren Prentiss' mother."

"You're the woman who adopted the girl who makes my son so happy," said the much older woman. "I'm Noah Puckerman's grandmother."

"Pleasure to meet you," Emily smiled. The phone rang and a resigned look immediately flashed across Nana's face. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Before Nana had a chance to answer, a girl walked across to the phone. "Don't answer that, Sarah!" Nana yelled. The girl let go of the phone as if it were hot.

"Who is that?" Emily asked. Something was wrong; she could feel it.

"Someone's been calling every couple hours, threatening my son. He didn't come home last night, which is why I called you. Sorry about that, by the way; it turns out he spent the night at a friend's house."

Emily nodded and walked over to the phone. When she picked it up, a breathy male voice said, "You're going to pay for what you did." It sent such a cold shock down Emily's back that she dropped the phone reflexively.

"Are you alright?" asked Nana.

Emily nodded a little. "I think it's time to call the police," she said. "They'll have ways to track this call."

* * *

><p>"So, let me get this straight; you guys want me to talk to the person who made me miss my prom by spiking the punch so that he'll reveal a big secret to you guys?" Artie asked as he wheeled himself next to Kurt and Blaine.<p>

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Blaine said, oblivious to Artie's sarcasm and Kurt's "Really, bitch?" look.

"That sound like the worst idea I've ever heard," said Artie. "Why not get Miss Pillsbury to talk to him?"

Now Kurt and Blaine gave him "Really, bitch?" looks.

"Yeah, that does sound stupid," Artie realized. "So, when do I have to put your wonderful plan into effect?"

"I was hoping right now," Kurt admitted.

Artie sighed, but wheeled himself away obediently. He stopped just at Puck's elbow and noticed how dark the shadows under his eyes had gotten.

"Dude, there's this thing called sleep," he began. "Ever heard of it?"

"There's this other thing called privacy, not your business," Puck snapped back. "Ever hear of that?"

Artie raised an eyebrow, but did not back down. He was so focused on saying what he wanted to say next that he didn't even notice Azimio coming behind him with a slushie until Puck stood up and knocked Azimio on his feet with an angry grunt. Azimio gave a shout of surprise as he fell on the ground, grape slushie all over his face and letterman jacket.

Sensing a fight about to break out, Artie wheeled himself between the two other football players so that he faced Puck, and began pushing the tall boy forward until they reached the hallway where Kurt and Blaine waited with surprised, and somewhat disappointed faces.

"Dude, what gives?" Artie asked first. "You just pushed the guy who's supposed to be defending you at the next game."

Kurt suddenly had an epiphany. "You're being more protective than usual," he said.

Puck blushed and looked away, like he was ashamed.

"It's not a bad thing," Kurt cut in hurriedly. "I'm glad you're a good person now, but…why?"

Unexpectedly, Puck sniffled. Realizing his best friend was crying, Artie wheeled forward and patted Puck's shoulder. Puck backed away and swatted at his arm. After that, the three boys simply stood still as Puck sank to the ground, fully sobbing, until he calmed down enough to hear above the ugly gulping sound he made.

"What happened, Puck?" asked Kurt gently, sitting next to him.

Puck's sobs subsided slowly, and he took a deep breath to steady his voice. "Before I was put in juvie, they put me in a holding cell, overnight, with all these other people. Not all of them were going to juvie." If all the boys suddenly turned pale, or green in Kurt's case, Puck didn't notice. "There were these three other people, and they recognized the guy sitting next to me. The lights were off and I guess the cops forgot about all of us because somebody just called in a rape. But they recognized me."

"What are you talking about?" Artie asked nervously.

"I'm eighteen. The only reason I went to juvie for stealing that ATM was because I knew what they did and I turned them in in exchange for going to juvie instead of prison," Puck replied.

Kurt sucked in a shaky breath and Blaine echoed it as they looked at each other in horror. They both knew what Puck was talking about.

"What did they do to you?" Blaine's voice was horrified, not because of what he thought Puck had done, but because of what he thought someone had made Puck do.

Puck's sob both heightened and eased his fears. "They made me watch."

* * *

><p><em>Next time, we'll learn what Puck saw, if it isn't obvious already.<em>

_Do I write too many rape!fics? Mia says my obsession is unhealthy. At the time, I said her obsession with dogs is unhealthy, since I'm allergic and we are married, even if she's several states away -sigh- oh well._

_I'll try to get the next one up faster than I posted this. I'm so, so sorry._


	3. All the Pretty Faces

_Thank you so much to stupidamericanidioms91, livvylovesyou, and OhMyGlee55 for reviewing the last chapter! In this one, we're going to find out who's after Puck and why. FYI, Det. Sai is upset when she realizes her address is a payphone because you don't really leave anything behind when you use it._

_Disclaimer: I don't own "All the Pretty Faces" by The Killers. And yes, every song used as a title is going to be by The Killers._

* * *

><p>Chapter III: All the Pretty Faces<p>

Emily, Pearl, Nana, and Det. Sai sat tensely next to the phone. When it started to ring, the women jumped in unison. With barely any hesitation, Pearl picked up and imitated Sarah Puckerman's voice perfectly. A look of distate appeared on her face at the response she got. Emily and Det. Sai worked together to track the call.

"Got it!" Det. Sai cheered. "I have an address…oh, crap, it's a payphone just across the street from McKinley High School."

Nana, Emily, and Pearl turned to each other with identical, panicked looks before bursting out of the door and into Pearl's car.

* * *

><p>"Watch what, Puck?" Artie asked.<p>

"They saw me and they said that they were going to show me what happens to people like me," Puck muttered into his knees. "There was this stranger who was way smaller—I don't know what he was in for—who saw them coming for him and darted behind me. Two of the guys who helped me rob the bank grabbed me and held me down. One of the other two held him down while the last guy," here Puck's voice broke again, and Kurt rubbed his back. Blaine was frozen, knowing all too well what Puck was going to say.

"The last guy raped him," Blaine said, expression indecipherable.

Puck nodded miserably, and Blaine scoffed. "How could you just lie there and watch?" he demanded.

Puck seemed to curl in on himself and Artie wheeled himself over to Puck and extended his hand. Puck took it reluctantly and the two walked away, leaving Kurt glaring at Blaine.

"How could you say that?" Kurt was furious. "He blames himself enough already; you don't need to add to it!"

"What happened to the other man was way worse than anything that happened to Puck," Blaine shook in quiet anger. "He was just caught in the crossfire of Puck's hell."

"Your mother was the one who told me that every hell comes with a heaven. You don't always get a chance to defend someone else," Kurt said regretfully. "I really wanted to, Blaine. I love you. This guy was a stranger to Puck. Could you have done that?"

Blaine looked down, tears filling his eyes. "I have to go apologize," he said after wiping his eyes.

Kurt nodded, glad his boyfriend understood. "Come on, I know where they're going," he said, linking their arms together. They walked together to the choir room, where Artie and Puck were both playing the guitar. Artie harmonized Puck's heartfelt song.

_All the different places, ringing out like a shotgun in my head.  
>All the pretty faces, ringing out well I just can't go to bed.<br>Well how did it happen? I spent two long years in a strange, strange land.  
>Well how did it happen? I'd do anything to be your man.<br>I'd do anything to be your man.  
>You're not going anywhere without me.<br>These trials don't prepare the air of love.  
>You're not telling anyone about me.<br>And you shake and you bleed while I sing my song.  
>I don't feel like touching you. I don't feel like touching you.<br>I don't feel like touching you. I don't feel like touching you._

Blaine stepped into the room and Puck froze. He relaxed slightly when Blaine raised both hands over his head. "I don't mean any harm," Blaine said gently. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."

Puck shrugged as if Blaine's apology didn't affect him in the least, but his eyes were misty. "Sure, dude, like, whatever."

If there were any more filler words in that sentence, Blaine was sure Puck would be impossible to understand.

"Guys," Artie wheeled himself over. "There's more to this story."

"How can there be more?" Blaine grasped Kurt's hand harder.

Artie looked up at Puck, who swallowed and looked a little green. "The guy they raped, he killed his parents and his younger sister, but his parents abused him, and when the judge heard what happened to him in the holding cell, he got sentenced to a psychiatric facility instead of prison, so he's out."

It was as if the temperature suddenly dipped a full twenty degrees. Blaine shivered and Kurt drew his scarf a little tighter. "So, he's after you?" Kurt's voice was shaking as hard as his body.

Puck nodded shamefully. "He kept calling my house, saying obscene things about how he wanted to make me pay, so I ran away. I tried to get your mom to kill me, but she talked me out of it," he said. "She made me feel hopeful," he admitted.

Blaine smiled with understanding. "Yeah, she does that," he said, voice soft and sad. "Puck, you have to tell somebody, okay?"

Puck withdrew and shook his head. "You were right though; it was my fault. I should've protected that guy. He was smaller. He even tried to get me to help him!"

"Against four other guys, Puck?" Blaine argued. "You had no chance." Puck continued to refuse to look at anyone, and Blaine sighed. "Okay, what if I get my mother to talk to this guy?" he asked. "I mean, he sounds like he needs some hope."

Puck finally relented and nodded. Just then, the choir door opened and Nana and Pearl walked in.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Nana exclaimed as she ran forward to hug her son. "I was so worried, Noah, so worried!"

"Why?" Blaine asked, puzzled and a little worried. "What's wrong?"

Pearl bit her lip. "We tracked the caller to a pay phone across the street from here. Det. Sai is dusting the phone for prints right now, and Emily's trying to find Lauren."

Puck dashed out of the room in search of his girlfriend.

Artie and Kurt were left behind staring at each other in horror. There was nothing about this that could possibly be good

* * *

><p>"Nothing?" Emily asked Det. Sai.<p>

Det. Sai shook her head. "The killer wore gloves this time, which sucks because he didn't wear gloves in the original murder."

Emily nodded, absorbing the information. "Where **was** the original murder?" she asked.

"Um, somewhere in Indiana, I think. All I know is that he killed his family in Indiana, but they were residents of Lima Heights Adjacent."

"So Indiana police would have handled the initial investigation?" Emily asked, mind buzzing with potential ideas.

"I guess so," Det. Sai sighed, leaning against the phone booth. "I was hoping for more of an advantage."

"I think I just got one," Emily said, pulling out her phone. "Pearl, you won't believe where the original crime took place."

* * *

><p>"A guy came up for me asking for change for a payphone. I told him that if I could practice my wrestling moves on him, he could do whatever he wanted with my change," Lauren rolled her eyes.<p>

Puck raised an eyebrow. "And that's all?" he asked sarcastically.

Lauren glared, but her glare dissipated quickly. "He looked like my dad," she admitted, and Puck softened.

"I'm sorry," he offered. "But look, there are people after me, and that means we can't be too careful until he's caught."

"You guys can be a lot less careful in my house," Emily said, walking with her gun prominent on her hip. "Puck, you're going to Pearl's house as soon as school lets out, do you understand?"

Puck nodded numbly. All these people, so worried for him and so ready to protect him, it didn't feel right.

* * *

><p>"Who?" asked Agent Gadhavi.<p>

"Art Earl," Pearl repeated the name.

"Earl?" Agent Souveloy looked up. "I worked that case. We hadn't had a double homicide in years. And then, of course, it's followed up by the reappearance of the Buttonwillow Butcher," she scoffed. "Well, I'll see to it that Lima gets all information about his crimes," she said.

"Thank you," Emily said gratefully. "We're all concerned. He tends to kill people he feels have wronged him in very brutal ways. How did he kill his parents?"

"Pick-axe to the brain. Very effective, very bloody, very full of rage," Agent Souveloy shook her head, trying to dispel the memories of the bloody room. "The level of overkill is something I've never seen before."

"And what about his sister? Cathy Earl?"

"She was poisoned. It would have been a much slower death, but much gentler," Agent Souveloy reread her report. "I think he put rat poison in her orange juice."

Nana made a mental note to throw out all her family's oranges.

"That's great, fruits suck," Puck said angrily, "but what about us? How does all this help us?"

"It tells us that Earl is a revenge killer," Emily said. "He's easily provoked to anger and blames everyone else for his mistakes. In this case, he blames Puck for his rape."

"He blames me because it was my fault," Puck agonized. He turned to Pearl and slapped her. "You should have just let me kill myself!"

"Don't you dare lay a hand on my mother!" Blaine shouted, coming between them and pushing Puck to the ground. Puck got right back up and looked ready for a fight, but Emily and Lauren wrestled Puck to the ground together while Pearl grabbed Blaine's midriff and moved him away from the fight and into his room. When she got back into her living room, Puck was sitting more or less calmly on the Rushes' sofa, Lauren and Emily to his right, the older woman still holding on to his arm to prevent him from flying into another violent rage.

"Noah, I understand that you're upset. Your whole life has been uprooted, by a man trying to kill you. You blame yourself. He blames you. I can't really change any of that. Now, I can let you live here, with Sarah and your grandmother. I can keep your family safe. But you have to stop lashing out at me, and you most certainly are **NEVER** allowed to lay a hand on Blaine. Do you understand?"

Puck nodded, and Pearl nodded for Emily to let go of the boy when she saw the guilt in his eyes. She sat to his left and smiled. "You are not to blame here, Noah. Not for any of this," she said, grabbing a box of tissues for him.

For the first time in a long while, Noah Puckerman cried without fear of being judged for being weak.

* * *

><p>"So, what can we expect from him?" Nana crossed her arms. Sarah was asleep in Pearl's bed (the young mother had stolen Kurt's never-used sleeping bag and taken the floor) and Puck was in the spare bedroom. Nana was going to live with the Prentiss family, but Emily and Lauren were having difficulty getting her out the door.<p>

Emily and Det. Sai looked at each other and sighed. Nana's determination was impossible to break. Finally, Emily relented.

"He's probably going to find your address," Det. Sai admitted. "He's already found your son's school, and from there, it's just a matter of getting into the school's records."

"Once he does find your address, he's going to stake out your house," Emily said, picturing a van in front of the Puckerman house at night. "He'll eventually notice that no one is home, and that's when we should expect him to show up at McKinley and follow Noah home." Seeing Nana's face, Emily was quick to add, "But Pearl is one of the BAU's best agents. Not to mention that Det. Adla Bef has promised to stake out this house." She smiled reassuringly. "Your grandchildren will be fine."

But she was wrong. Oh, so wrong.

* * *

><p><em>Next time, Pearl and Blaine discuss having Puck in their house, and two familiar people from Indiana are going to show up to kick some murderer ass!<em>

_"Earl" means "warrior," and Cathy and Art together sound kind of like "catharthis," which is what Art delivers. Yeah, I'm lame like that._


	4. For Reasons Unknown

_I want to thank livvylovesyou, OhMyGlee55, and stupidamericanidioms91 for your reviews, because you guys are the only people who ever review anymore. You guys are awesome! -squeals like a girl, which is only partly due to the fact that I am a girl- __Well, in this chapter Pearl and Blaine have a chat, Puck runs away, an epiphany is reached in a **very** roundabout way, and a few familiar faces make an appearance._

_Disclaimer: I don't own the song "For Reasons Unknown" by-three guesses who. That's right!-The Killers. The statistics at the end were provided by Spencer Reid in Criminal Minds episode "Seven Seconds." (How do I remember this stuff?)_

* * *

><p>Chapter IV: For Reasons Unknown<p>

Pearl noticed when she went upstairs that, for the first time in a while, Blaine had locked his door. Ever since he had finally started trusting her, he had kept the door unlocked and open as a sign of trust that she wouldn't come in and demand that he do something. Clearly, that trust had been lost. Needing to know the reason, she knocked on the door. "Blaine," she asked quietly, "can I come in?"

She heard the shuffling of socked feet on carpeted flooring and the snick of the door unlocking before Blaine's wide dark eyes found hers.

"Blaine, what's wrong?" she asked. "Puck told me how you reacted to him earlier today, and I'm just wondering why you've been acting so petty."

Blaine swallowed and fury sparked in his eyes. "Petty?" he spat out. "He watched and didn't do anything, but he still gets to live here and you take his side!" he wiped away at the tears in his eyes.

Pearl crossed her arms uncomfortably over her chest. "Blaine, I'm sorry you feel that way," she said stiffly. "I'm even sorrier that you felt like you couldn't come to me. I know that I didn't really do that good of a job of addressing your pain. Sure, the Butcher case sidetracked me, but that's not an excuse, and I should've paid more attention. So, that's all going to change, right now." She crossed the room and sat on his bed. "I want you to tell me what's going on in your life."

Blaine lied down in his bed and let his mother pull the blankets up to his shoulders. "I remember what you told me that one time, about being afraid to blame the people who abused me because they were really scary. I guess I thought Puck was a better target than they were. He was closer and more convenient, anyway," his voice was full of shame.

Pearl softened. "I'm glad you said that," she said, smoothing his hair. "I want you to know that, just because Noah's living here doesn't mean I love you any less. I will have to divert some attention to him. He's a guest and he needs my help. I need you to understand that."

Blaine nodded. "I do," he said. "I'm sorry I was acting so selfishly," he murmured, eyes closing.

Pearl laughed softly. "You're one of the most selfless teenagers I've ever met," she said. "You need to take a break from that every once and a while."

Blaine smiled and let his mother sing him a lullaby.

* * *

><p>Puck entered Glee Club the next day without looking that much different than he usually did. Only Kurt, Lauren, Artie, and Blaine could see the difference, and only because they were looking for it. However, by the end of the day, everyone would curse their lack of foresight.<p>

"Puck, you said you have a song for us?" asked Will.

Puck stood. He thought of the conversation he had with Lauren's mother, with his grandmother, his little sister, and with the family he was intruding on. They deserved a bit of an explanation, so he faced Blaine and Lauren and Artie and Kurt, because they all sacrificed something to help him when they really shouldn't have.

_I packed my case, I checked my face.  
>I look a little bit older. I look a little bit colder.<br>With one deep breath, and one big step, I move a little bit closer.  
>I move a little bit closer, for reasons unknown.<br>I caught my stride, I flew and flied.  
>I know if destiny's kind, I've got the rest of my mind.<br>But my heart, it don't beat, it don't beat the way it used to.  
>And my eyes, they don't see you no more.<br>And my lips, they don't kiss, they don't kiss the way they used to.  
>And my eyes don't recognize you no more.<br>For reasons unknown. For reason unknown.  
>There was an open chair. We sat down in the open chair.<em>

Then, in the middle of the song, Puck faltered and ran out of the room. Blaine and Kurt, and Artie and Lauren looked at each other, but none of them went after him. They were sure he would come back.

They were wrong.

* * *

><p>"Agent Souveloy," the woman offered Pearl and Emily the hand not clutching a thick file. Behind her, Agent Gadhavi had two even thicker ones.<p>

"Pearl Rush," Pearl introduced herself.

"Emily Prentiss," Emily winced when she saw the files. "That paperwork must have been a bitch."

Agent Souveloy laughed. "It didn't seem right to complain when I was writing up the reports of two people who had been axed to death."

"Speaking of being axed to death, you did bring the x-ray photos, right?" Pearl asked.

"Somewhere here," Agent Gadhavi gestured to his files.

Pearl grabbed one and struggled for a moment before managing to balance the heavy file so that she could flip through it to find the x-rays. "Oh, here they are!" she called triumphantly, taking out the x-rays of the Earls' skulls and losing her precariously-balanced files in the process. "Oh, dammit!" she cursed as papers spilled all over her feet.

Emily laughed as she and the Indiana Bureau of Investigation agents helped her scoop up the spilled papers and pictures.

"So, what do we know about Art?" Pearl asked.

"Well, from these reports, he's a very disorganized killer," Emily said, reading off the reports as she picked them up. "He killed his parents in a very messy way and his sister in a different way, like he couldn't make up his mind."

"But there was no evidence," Pearl argued as she looked at the reports she was putting back in order.

"That's true," Agent Souveloy said. "If he hadn't come to us and confessed, we wouldn't have ever caught him."

Finally, with everything was back where it was supposed to be, the agents filed into Emily's car and Pearl took a closer look at the x-ray photos. She peered closely at one before asking, "Who died first?"

Agent Gadhavi checked his other file and pulled out the coroner's report. "It says here that Mr. Earl died first."

"That doesn't make sense," Pearl took the coroner's report from him and flipped through it. "Mrs. Earl's x-ray shows a hesitation stroke," she pointed at the photo. "See how the ax blade goes in significantly angled, so that it goes deeper into the front of the head than the back? It means that whoever killed her was standing behind her and let the blade fall without putting much weight behind it. It's harder to control the end of a weapon than the handle, and the weight of the ax rather than the anger of the killer made the cut. And whoever killed her wouldn't have wanted to see the look on her face. But Mr. Earl's head was practically cut in half, and there's only a little bit of an angle toward the back. The person who killed him was angry and swung with all his might, wanting to see his face as he died."

"What are you trying to tell me?" asked Agent Gadhavi.

Pearl looked at him with worried eyes. "I'm saying that we have two different killers."

"It says here in your report that Noah Puckerman is living with SSA Rush and his grandmother and younger sister are living with SSA Prentiss," said Agent Souveloy. "Where are his parents?"

"Det. Sai arrested Noah's mother on prostitution charges, for at least the third time," Pearl recalled, "and Noah told me last night that he doesn't know who his father is," she looked like she had an epiphany. "Oh my Goddess, there's a fifteen-year-age difference between Sarah and Noah."

Seeing her face, Agent Gadhavi knew something was wrong. "What? What are you talking about?"

Pearl looked thoughtful. "When I answered the phone and impersonated Sarah, the caller said, 'I'm sorry, little girl, I didn't mean to scare you.' At the time, I assumed that it was meant to be intimidating, but what if he really didn't mean to scare her, just Puck?"

The other agents were still confused. "What on Earth are you talking about?" Agent Gadhavi asked.

"I'm saying, Art is only after Noah, not Sarah. Noah and Sarah have different fathers, so it stands to reason that the killer is connected to the Puckerman family through Noah's father."

"Then we have to figure out who fathered Noah Puckerman, but with Judith Puckerman being a working girl, we're not likely to get very far," Agent Souveloy looked frustrated.

"Wait, Art is after Noah because of his father," Emily repeated. "So, all we have to do is cross-reference Judith's johns with men both Art and Noah know."

Agent Gadhavi laughed. "Agent Prentiss, you're a genius."

Emily smiled, but felt a shiver go down her back. When she saw Pearl quivering in the backseat, she wondered if there was something else going on. "I feel like we should go check on our kids," said Emily. When Pearl nodded, Emily pressed the accelerator as far down as it would go and got Agents Souveloy and Gadhavi to the LPD in record time.

"School should have let out by now, right?" Emily asked, almost trembling. Pearl merely nodded and urged Emily to go faster. "I'm driving to my house first," Emily said. "It's my car, but you can use it to drive home. Just try to get it back to me in one piece, okay?"

Pearl nodded impatiently. "Just drive, okay?" she pleaded. Emily right in front of her house and tossed Pearl the keys with shaking hands. Neither mother understood their urgency, but Emily's dissipated when she walked inside and found Lauren drooling in her sleep, pile of algebra homework as a pillow. She let out a relieved sigh and laughed.

"If you want mathematical symbols on your face so badly, you could always tattoo an equation on your cheek," Emily joked. "That way, all you need to cheat during a test is a mirror."

"I can get a tattoo?" Lauren was excited.

Emily shook her head. "No," she said seriously. "I'm just glad to see that you're safe," she hugged her daughter tightly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Lauren asked.

Before Emily could answer, her phone rang again. It was Pearl.

"Is Lauren home right now?" Pearl asked anxiously.

"Um, yes," Emily said, gut clenching. "Why? Is Puck not?"

"No, he isn't, and Blaine tells me he's been missing since Glee Club just over two hours ago." There was a pause, then a slightly hysterical, "I need your help, Em."

Emily froze. _99% of abducted children who are killed die within the first 24 hours, 75% within the first three hours. _"I'll be right there," she said numbly._ And what only law enforcement knows, Noah Puckerman could join the 44% of children who are abducted and killed within the first hour._

* * *

><p><em>Uh-oh, Puck's gone. And here's a little spoiler: Art's going to shoot somebody in the chest. I haven't decided who it's going to be yet, but all the characters are possible: Nana, Sarah, Puck, Pearl, Blaine, Puck, Kurt, Lauren, Emily, Artie, Oleksander, Livvy, Briana, and Adla.<em>

_Next time, we'll find Puck, Artie undergoes some angst, and we find out who Puck's father is! Want to make this happen faster? There's a pretty little link underneath this loooong note that says "review." Pwetty pleathe? (Also, does anyone know how to type in babyspeak?)_


	5. Bones

_I GOT FOUR REVIEWS LAST CHAPTER! asdflk;jasdflk;j! SouthernHemmy, OhMyGlee55, stupidamericanidioms91, and livvylovesyou, you guys are the AWESOMEST people evar! (Wow, my spellcheck is bleeding.)_

_I said Artie was going to angst a bit in this chapter, but then I listened to the song "Bones" and I thought it was really creepy, so I wrote a few paragraphs about Art Earl Jr.'s thoughts about Puck and his situation and deleted Artie's angsting. (Dammit, spellcheck, I can make up words if I want to!)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own the song "Bones" by (do I even need to say it at this point?) The Killers._

* * *

><p><em>"But I don't really like you, apologetically dressed<br>__In the best, but on a heartbeat glide.  
><em>_Without an answer, the thunder speaks for the sky,  
>And on the cold, wet dirt I cry.<br>__And on the cold, wet dirt I cry.  
><em>_Don't you wanna come with me?  
>Don't you wanna feel my bones<br>__On your bones?  
><em>_It's only natural."_

Chapter V: Bones

"I'm worried about Puck," Artie said at lunch. "He hasn't been to school in a while."

"Relax, Artie," said Quinn. "Puck's skipped class so many times, by now I'm more surprised when he **does** show up."

"You heard the song he sang," Kurt argued Artie's side. "Something bad made him leave the choir room and run away."

"He hasn't even been home since," Blaine stabbed his lunch meat, which was as hard as plastic and tasted even worse. It tasted like guilt, guilt for letting Puck out of his sight and into danger.

"I'm sure he'll turn up," Tina said reassuringly.

"Has anybody thought to check the port-a-potties?" Mike asked.

"Been there, done that, found Rachel," Lauren waved off his suggestion.

"So that's why it's so quiet," Mercedes said as she stuffed a mouthful of tater tots in her mouth.

"Puck's best friend is Finn," Brittany inadvertently gave everyone an idea.

"He said something about practice with Sam," Kurt swallowed the rest of his extremely distasteful chicken soup and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I'll go find him."

"I'll come with you," Blaine said quickly, throwing down his fork.

"Ooh, wanky-wanky," Santana's eyebrows lifted suggestively.

"Shut up, Santana," said everyone else. With that, Kurt and Blaine set off for the locker room.

* * *

><p>"I thought about what you said," Agent Gadhavi began, "about there being two killers. We thought the medium velocity blood-spatter on Cathy's body was the result of her being in the room when her parents were killed, but there's a shape on the wall behind her where there's no blood, and that shape fits her."<p>

"I think I know who Noah Puckerman's father is," said Det. Bef. "Arthur Earl Senior went to Lima eighteen years and nine months ago."

"Agent Prentiss, you told us that Art Earl Junior probably killed his sister to save her from the same abuse that he suffered," Agent Souveloy added.

"And you guys think that he wants to kill Puck for the same reason?" Pearl frowned, not understanding.

"No. We think that Art wants to kill Noah because he **wasn't** abused and Earl Jr. thinks he should have been," Agent Souveloy said.

"And I think your second killer was Cathy Earl," Det. Bef showed pictures of Cathy's body. "Actually, Det. Sai figured that out."

"I was looking through the autopsy reports," Det. Sai said, picking out the piece of paper. "Cathy Earl's hair shows she received a large dose of poison at one time, instead of a small amount over time."

"Was it too large of a dose for it to have been an accident?" asked Emily.

"Without a doubt," Det. Sai replied.

"So, either Cathy killed herself from guilt and he had a psychotic break, so he feels that his other brother has to be killed too, or Cathy wanted to turn herself and Art in so he killed her and wants to kill Noah too," Emily shook her head wistfully. "We need more to go on."

Pearl froze. "Is it just me, or does Cathy look like a feminine version of Noah?" she asked, holding up a picture of Cathy's body where her face was clearly visible.

Det. Bef realized what the fresh-faced detective was trying to say. "Earl Jr. isn't looking for Puck to **kill** him; he's looking for Noah to replace his sister."

Pearl shook her head. This doesn't increase Noah's chances of survival at all," she corrected. "He sees threats to his masculinity where none exist. Earl's making him Cathy would definitely set him off, and he'd fight Earl."

"The last three people who fought Earl ended up with axes in their skulls," Emily looked a little green.

"Then we have to find out where Earl Jr. is and arrest him," Pearl stood up determinedly. "And this time, we make sure he is never getting free."

* * *

><p>"Yeah, he did seem a bit upset, but not enough to run away from home for," Finn was getting tired of Kurt asking the same question over and over.<p>

"He hasn't been home, Finn. That's the definition of 'running away from home,'" Kurt was getting tired of Finn answering the same way over and over.

"Well, what do you want me to do?" Finn snapped, turning to his smaller stepbrother with his hands curled into fists.

Sensing a fight about to break out, Blaine stepped between them. "All we want to know is whether or not Puck has somewhere to blow off steam at."

Finn nodded and pointed to Lima Heights Adjacent. "You know all the abandoned buildings out there? Puck and I used to go out there and talk about our dads. Well, our not-dads. I don't know," he shrugged. "I guess we felt like those buildings; the ground was still there to hold us up, but the people who were supposed to take care of the buildings weren't there for them. Wait, I think I just killed a megaton."

Kurt was too busy trying not to cry to correct his lack of metaphorical knowledge. Instead, he dialed Blaine's mother.

"Ms. Rush? I have a general idea of where Puck could be."

* * *

><p>Puck looked at the buildings. They were unwanted and unpleasant to look at, just like him. Much like his penis, he only use they still had was to provide temporary relief to people just as damaged as him. He looked down, picked up a rock, and hurled it out a window too dusty to see through. It smashed through the glass, the shattering of the silence so startling it almost covered up the surprised scream of someone outside. Puck ran toward the window and saw familiar strawberry-blonde tresses splayed out across the dirt.<p>

"Are you okay?" he called, feeling sick. This woman had been nothing but kind to him, just like his Nana and Sarah, and in return he had driven his family out of his house and given Blaine's mother a concussion.

Pearl sat up and laughed. "You throw like a girl," she laughed. "I'm not even bleeding. Oh, wait," she rubbed the gash in front of her head. "Never mind, yes I am. Damn," she looked and the dirt she had sunk face-first-into. "It's like infection central down here," she brushed the dirt as best she could off her face.

Puck reached into his pockets for the little bottle of whiskey and walked outside. "Um, I don't know if this will work," he said. She didn't look surprised that he had alcohol, and Puck felt another twinge of shame.

Pearl took the bottle from him, poured some alcohol on her fingers, and rubbed at the cut. "Thanks," she smiled at him, not giving him the bottle back. "You know the legal drinking age is twenty-one, right?" she asked.

Puck put his hands in his pockets, looking deeply uncomfortable. "I'm old enough to join the army. You sure privates don't drink?" he asked.

Pearl suppressed her smile. Puck didn't get in her face for calling him out on his drinking. She had to take advantage of this momentary vulnerability. "I'm not sure," she shrugged casually. "I've never been in the army."

Puck chanced a glance at her. "You were in the FBI," he said.

Pearl chuckled. "Yeah, but the FBI is hardly the Army," she said. Looking at the deserted building, she asked, "Is this where you come when you're upset?"

Puck rubbed the sandy dirt with the tip of his shoe silently.

"You know, if Kurt saw you do that to a perfectly good pair of shoes, he would flip," she said off-handedly.

Puck couldn't help but laugh. Pearl did smile this time. She had him. "So, why don't you tell me what you're upset about?"

Puck shrugged, looking away so she wouldn't see the tears in his eyes. But being Blaine's mother had taught Pearl a thing or two about boys' tears, and Pearl moved in front of him and gave him a hug.

That did it. Puck couldn't stop crying. The air was completely silent, but not still, and Pearl grabbed the packet of tissues Emma had insisted she take when she went in to talk to the woman about helping her son. Of course, it was exactly her forcing Pearl to take the tissues that made the young mother realize Emma was **not** a fit counselor.

"Your sister and grandmother are worried about you," she said. "So was I. So was Blaine."

Puck blew his nose on the tissues and sniffed. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"Well, that doesn't matter now. What matters is that we found you," she waited until he could look her in the eye to hug him so that he would still have a chance to back out if he wanted to.

He didn't, and Pearl began to speak. "We're going to go to my house so you can eat something while I try to cover up the cut on my forehead. Then after that you are going to finish your homework and all the make-up work your teachers have for you. After that, you, Emily and I are going to figure out where we go from here, alright?"

Puck nodded. Pearl smiled. "Good," she said before dumping the rest of the whiskey in her mouth. Seeing Puck's expression, she shrugged nonchalantly. "Hey, just because **you** can't drink doesn't mean **I** can't."

Puck grumbled a few curse words, but Pearl couldn't hear them above her girlish giggling.

She spent half the ride clutching her stomach and cursing in the backseat as Puck drove, laughing about how she couldn't handle her liquor.

* * *

><p>This wouldn't do. This wouldn't do at all. That drunk, overgrown little girl needed to learn her place! She had no right stealing his sister with a few pretty words, a few idiotic embraces, and the promise of food. The jackass Puck didn't deserve food. He didn't deserve anything.<p>

God, how he wanted to make that cut on her forehead bigger, so big her brains would leak out. But to do that, he had to plan, and plan well. He had been too careless and the stupid slut had found not only his name but about his connection to his new sister.

His new sister deserved to become his new sister. She had watched as he was emasculated, and now he had to remasculate himself by taking Puck's manhood. He had to. He **had** to. He **had** to! This opportunity wouldn't slip past his fingers. There had been only one person who had ever understood his pain, and in the end she had betrayed him. He betrayed her by dumping rat poison in her tea, in turn, but all he wanted to do was make amends and have a real relationship with his sister again.

Just when he thought all was lost, he had seen Puck in the holding cell, and realized God had given him a second chance to have a sister. He would take full advantage of it; he would do everything he could to keep his sister safe this time, safe from the world, safe from her parents, safe.

Safe.

Safe.

* * *

><p><em>For those of you still waiting for updates to <span>Let Me Tell You a Story<span>, I am apparently incapable of focusing on more than one story at a time, so I'm going to aim for finishing this story before I continue that one, which could be a while, since I still don't know where I'm going with this. I can't believe I've gotten a bigger response to a story I'm making up as I go along than a story I spend hours planning before I post._

_I also have to insert a warning here that the next chapter will contain **MAJOR** character death. Seriously._

_Review if you have a character you don't want to die, and maybe I'll consider switching the character I'm having die._


	6. Sam's Town

_Like I said, major character death this chapter. Please don't kill me for it, guys._ And no, OhMyGlee55, I didn't actually lie. I just didn't tell you the whole truth.__

_Muchas gracias to my two reviewers for the last chapter, finchelklaine23 and OhMyGlee55. I can't even -pressed hand to heart- I'm not the most secure person out there, so when I write something and I don't get positive feedback, I'm likely to burn it. But you two are just to most encouraging people ever!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own the song "Sam's Town," which I've wanted to use since FOREVER by The Killers. The line at the end is from the same song._

* * *

><p><em>"I've got this energy beneath my feet<em>  
><em>Like something underground's gonna come up and carry me<em>  
><em>I've got this sentimental heart that beats<em>  
><em>But I don't really mind that it's starting to get to me now<em>  
><em>Why do you waste my time?<em>  
><em>Is the answer to the question on your mind<em>  
><em>And I'm sick of all my judges<em>  
><em>So scared of what they'll find<em>  
><em>But I know that I can make it<em>  
><em>As long as somebody takes me home."<em>

Chapter VI: Sam's Town

"What do you want to eat?" Pearl asked, getting out what she believed was a pot (it was a wok).

"Um, aren't you not supposed to cook or something?" Puck asked, raising an eyebrow as she filled the wok with hot water.

"Oh, please, how hard can it be to boil noodles?" Pearl asked, putting the wok on the counter next to her.

* * *

><p>"We're going to run out of ointment soon," Blaine said, watching his mother rub some on the burns on her legs and the tops of her feet.<p>

"See if I ever wear ballet flats again," Pearl muttered.

Blaine turned to Puck, face red with anger. "I can't curse at her because she's a woman, injured, and my mother, but I can definitely curse at you for letting her cook in the first place!"

Puck looked at Pearl, pleading for help, but she merely looked amused as he cowered in front of the much, much smaller Blaine.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Agents," Det. Sai gestured the two agents over to a file she had been reading. "What's the bruise on Cathy Earl's arm?"<p>

"My report said it was two fingers, like someone had…grabbed her," Agent Souveloy groaned and covered her face. "If someone had grabbed her arm, there'd be a bruise from all five fingers."

"It could be the butt of a gun," Det. Bef suggested. "He could have dropped it on her arm by accident."

"I'll look through license registers, see if any of the Earls had a gun," Agent Gadhavi went to a computer, used his ID, and inputted Arthur Earl Senior's name. "Yup—a .38 snub-nosed Police Special. Huh, how ironic."

The irony was promptly forgotten when the phone rang. Det. Sai answered, and she turned pale white.

"What is it?" Agent Souveloy asked immediately. "What's wrong?"

Det. Sai took a while to answer. "Art Jr."

* * *

><p>"Why do you always insist on cooking?" Emily asked when Pearl called and relayed the information. "You always end up with an inedible mess and an economy-sized box of bandages all over your body."<p>

"So, I get inedible messes all over my body?" Pearl pouted before she remembered that she was on the phone and Emily couldn't see it.

"Stop pouting, young lady, and yes, inedible messes get over your person as well," Emily said, smiling at the sight of Nana putting Sarah to sleep. "I don't understand your obsession with the kitchen. You're rarely home often enough to cook."

"Yes, but do you know how big a blow my self-esteem suffers every time my teenage son and his teenage friend cooks infinitely better than I do?" Pearl rolled her eyes, hoping Emily wouldn't be able to tell from her breathing or her pause in speech. "Hell, tonight, Noah made some kind of soup and it tasted amazing."

But Emily was too good a profiler to miss any of that. "Give the boys a chance to feel useful. They both feel like they owe you."

"They don't owe me," Pearl objected, not realizing the boys could hear her through the wall now that their video game was paused. "If anything, I owe them."

"Maybe, but in Blaine's eyes, you saved him from a life of slavery and pain, and to Puck, you're the first adult besides his grandmother who's ever really paid attention to him." She braced herself for Pearl's baffled, tearful response. When she didn't get one, she assumed that Pearl had hung up and run downstairs to give both boys a hug.

But no, the call was still connected, and everything was dead silent, until a startled scream and a crash broke the silence.

Okay,** now** the call was disconnected. Emily didn't hesitate to call someone else.

* * *

><p>"We'll be there as soon as we can," said Agent Gadhavi before hanging up on Emily. "Alright, we're going into a hostage situation."<p>

Agent Souveloy saw Det. Sai putting more bullets into her clip. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

"I'm being prepared," LPD detective said.

"This isn't in Lima; it's out of your jurisdiction," Agent Souveloy said. "You're staying here and manning the phones, just in case Emily calls again."

Det. Sai waited until the agents had gone before she motioned to Det. Bef to join her in a police cruiser.

"You know we could be fired for being insubordinate, right?" Det. Bef reminded her partner.

"Oh, please, the two Lima cops who helped catch the Buttonwillow Butcher? Chief Lupe Naress wouldn't dare," Det. Sai said confidently.

* * *

><p>Blaine and Puck were playing a Harry Potter video game (a compromise on Call of Duty and actually <strong>reading<strong> Prisoner of Azkaban) when the screen suddenly went dark. For a moment, Blaine and Puck looked at each other, then at the wall from behind which Pearl was actively praising both boys.

Puck noticed the surprised look on Blaine's face and wondered if his own expression mirrored it. He was pretty sure his heart had just grown ten sizes.

And then all heartwarming thoughts disappeared. All the lights turned off, and from behind the wall came a startled scream. The boys didn't even hesitate before they both got up and navigated through the living room with the moonlight that streamed through the windows.

"Cathy?" called out a male voice. Puck froze at its familiarity.

"She's not here," Pearl's voice, while steady, was so high-pitched that a nearby dog started to bark.

"Of course she's here. I saw you bringing her inside."

"Well, you're wrong. Cathy's in the Indianapolis County Coroner's Office, or a cemetery near it."

Puck and Blaine were trying to be as quiet as possible, which was difficult in the dark, so they moved slowly. Blaine's breathing was harsh, and when Puck turned around he saw that the hobbit was trembling.

"It'll be fine," Puck reassured him. "She knows how to hold her own."

"I'd rather she didn't have to," Blaine replied in a whisper. He pulled out his phone and the sounds of buttons, while quiet, was deafening in the silence.

"Dude, who are you texting?" Puck asked under his breath.

"Kurt," Blaine's affection and trust in his boyfriend was endearing, but Puck felt it was stupid.

As it turned out, Puck was right. Blaine didn't know that Kurt's idea of protecting Blaine meant getting as many people involved as possible. Kurt yelled for Finn, Burt, and Carole as he texted Mercedes, who texted Sam, who texted Artie, who texted Brittany, who texted Quinn as she told Santana, who texted Mike, who texted Tina, who texted Rachel, who called Will in a fit of tears, who called Emma, who screamed and called Sue.

Five minutes later, Will Schuester's car was so full of teenagers and adults that half of them were sitting on someone else's lap.

"Get your atrocious hair out of my face, Berry!" Sue shouted. Tina and Mercedes looked at each other and giggled, and Will breathed a sigh of relief despite the danger they all knew they were headed straight toward.

"Come on, guys," Will said. "We're here. And we're not the only ones." He closed the door and walked up to Emily. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"My friend is in there, with her son and her son's friend," Emily showed Will her FBI badge. "What are you doing here?"

"Blaine texted for help," Kurt answered, "so we're all here," he gestured to the whole of New Directions. Behind them, Bieste drove up with Holly Holliday and some baseball bats in two. Upon seeing them, Emily raised an eyebrow.

"When you coach the first football team to win a game in years, you get access to the rest of the sports equipment too," Bieste shrugged. "Besides, footballs don't make that much damage."

Emily rolled her eyes. "As long as you guys are quiet," she said, glad she was acting as a friend and not an agent as she led everyone to the door. She took out the spare key Pearl had given her and slowly turned the doorknob before flinging the door open and jumping in, fully-loaded gun aimed. Behind her, all of New Directions had weapons or fists brandished.

"Freeze!" Bieste yelled.

Earl Junior, however, had different ideas. He turned the gun from Pearl onto the crowd and fired randomly. Someone gasped and fell down. He felt a sharp pain in his heart, as if a Mack truck had slammed into his chest, stopping his heart. Just as quickly as it hit, however, it was leaving. It was far away, and his heart was so slow and he was so cold.

It only took two seconds for him to die.

It was too dark to see who got hit, but Pearl heard the screams of everyone asking what had happened and who had gotten hit and was everyone okay? She jumped on top of the killer. A second gunshot, much quieter than the first because Pearl's stomach was muffling it, sounded before Agents Gadhavi and Souveloy ran inside the room, guns brandished, but it was too dark to aim.

Two flashlights turned on suddenly, and the McKinley students and staff parted to let Detectives Bef and Sai through. Det. Bef gasped and leaned down to the blond on the ground to check his pulse, but it was too late.

Samuel Overstreet-Evans was pronounced dead on the scene.

However, Earl Junior was still alive and very much dangerous, and Det. Sai shone her flashlight directly into the killer's eyes so Agent Gadhavi could fire by the time Agent Souveloy was done calling for an ambulance.

The immediate threat gone, panic reigned. Mercedes crouched down next to her dead boyfriend and started to cry. Kurt was torn between comforting her and comforting the now hysterical Blaine, who didn't know if pressing his hands on the hole in his mother's stomach would do more damage by pushing the bullet further in or help save her life by stemming the bleeding. Luckily, Emily, Tina, Rachel, Mike, and Finn were upon her immediately, moving the nearly hysterical girl away from the body with gentle hands. Kurt ran toward Blaine, who was close to tears as he and Agent Souveloy moved Pearl's trembling body outside, where Det. Sai had a flashlight out so the ambulances could see her.

When the ambulance came, however, it was accompanied by the coroner's van. Dani Kelvia walked out and took Sam's body as EMTs worked furiously on Pearl to try to stem the bleeding.

The New Directions were left in the darkened house to stare at the pools of blood, mourn their fallen baritone, and pray for their friend's mother, Puck in particular.

_I've never really known anybody that died before._

* * *

><p><em>I don't know if Chord Overstreet is actually a baritone or not, but most guys can sing baritone, so it's a pretty safe bet. And he's being written off the show somehow, so I figured I'd do it first, my way (in other words, bloody, loud, in-front-of-your-friends murder).<em>

_Next time, Agent Gadhavi, Kurt, and Blaine have a conversation, Mercedes grieves, and Puck and Agent Gadhavi feel guilty. And it'll either be the last chapter or the second-to-last, then I'll swear off fanfiction until I can finish LMTYaS on fictionpress. Or I'll help Mia write The Virginity Diaries, which is different ways Kurt and Blaine have their (or at least one of their) first times. Or both, who knows._


	7. Exitlude

_The amount of love this fic has gotten just warms my heart. OhMyGlee55, livvylovesyou, stupidamericanidioms91, and finchelklaine23, you guys just rock! If I could clone a Joe Walker for each of you guys, I would._

_Special thanks to Mia for arranging the song for me!_

_Disclaimer: I'm not part of The Killers, therefore, I don't own "Exitlude." Nor do I own Lilly Rush from "Cold Case" or Horatio Caine from "CSI: Miami," or the shows they're from._

* * *

><p>Chapter VII: Exitlude<p>

Puck, Blaine, Kurt, and Agent Gadhavi paced nervously in the hall outside the surgery room, where doctors were still attempting to repair the damage the bullet left on already damaged organs.

"I killed someone," Agent Gadhavi's hands were trembling, and Kurt and Blaine noticed.

"You did what you had to," Blaine said. "He already proved that he was capable of murder. You just made sure he wouldn't kill anyone else."

"I could've hit him in the arm or something," Agent Gadhavi shook his head, looking less like an adult than the teenagers did.

"Look, when I shot Ray Zizes," Kurt said matter-of-factly, "I could've aimed for his arms too, but I wanted both his arms to stop working because I wasn't sure if anyone was going to come in and save us at all. I knew I had to keep him from getting up and hurting Pearl, Blaine, or me. You were doing the same thing. Do you think I was wrong for killing the Butcher?"

Agent Gadhavi shook his head, but he still didn't look convinced.

The doctor came out, looking tired but happy. "There was less trauma to her kidneys than we expected," he said. "We could discharge her tomorrow."

Blaine breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Kurt with a smile. It faded when he saw Mercedes crying. He swallowed. Sam's death was all his fault. He shouldn't have texted Kurt.

"Sam's death was all my fault," Puck said, voice thick with an emotion no one could really identify. "Earl was after me, not Sam. I put him in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"No, you didn't," Blaine said sharply. "You didn't text the whole of New Directions to come to your house."

"Your mother should've just let him shoot me," Puck continued.

"Oh, so it's her fault now?" Blaine's temper rose, and so did his fist.

"Stop!" Agent Gadhavi walked between the two boys and pulled them apart. Kurt immediately grabbed Blaine's fist and forced it to rest by his side. "Look, a kid is dead, and that's sad, okay? You're allowed to grieve. But don't grieve by making another kid dead."

Blaine looked like he was about to say something, but Pearl was wheeled out of the surgery room, prompting him and Kurt to run after it. Everyone else was close behind, but stopped when a blonde woman and red-haired man ran in, twin looks of terror on their faces.

"Our daughter, where is she?" asked the redhead.

"She's being taken to Intensive Care right now, sir," said the receptionist.

Horatio and Lilly ran toward Emily and began to grill her on what had taken place between Sam's killer and their daughter.

"Believe me, ma'am, sir, if I could answer your questions, I would. Pearl is an accomplished agent and even better friend," Emily bowed her head. "But I don't know how anyone but the doctors could help her right now or how badly she's hurt."

Lilly nodded, but with great unhappiness, and she bit her lip as she looked at the people outside the room. "I don't know why this always happens to my baby," she admitted, eyes watery.

"I don't either, ma'am," Emily sat down next to Pearl's adoptive mother.

"By the way, who's Sue Sylvester?" asked Horatio, police radio pressed to his ear.

"Um, she's the cheerleading coach-turned-congresswoman, why?" Will asked.

"I just heard a report that someone named Sue Sylvester ran into my daughter's house and started smashing things," Horatio said, looking a little alarmed. Suddenly, the room erupted in giggles and chuckles. It wasn't happy laughter, but it got the tension out of the room so that true smiles could spread once the doctor came out and said that Pearl was now fit to receive visitors.

"Just family right now, please," said the doctor when New Directions tried to storm the room. Reluctantly, Kurt, Puck, and Emily trudged back to the waiting room with the rest of the New Directions and the teachers. Suddenly, seeing the way everyone was hugging the sickly-looking woman through the glass doors, Mercedes lost it.

"I can't stay here," she said, standing. "I have to go home."

"Mercedes," Kurt rose, "she deserved to survive."

Mercedes' eyes filled with tears. "So did Sam," she said. "If you don't understand that, why are we friends?"

Kurt tried to remember the last time he and Mercedes had spent any time together and he began to tear up as well. "I'm sorry," he offered.

"It's too late," Mercedes looked at Rachel, who gave Kurt an apologetic look before she led Mercedes outside and drove her home. Kurt turned back to the glass door and, when he noticed that the doctor was gone, walked through it and let Pearl comfort him. Puck had half a mind to follow.

"The why don't you?" Agent Gadhavi asked.

Puck hadn't realized he had spoken out loud until the man called him out on it. "Dude, I just got her shot."

Agent Gadhavi took out something that looked a bit like one of those things teacher used to clean overheads, and sprayed it on Puck's hands. "Hmm, they didn't turn blue," he murmured.

Puck wondered if the guy's misplaced guilt turned him insane. "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked. "Why would my hands be blue?"

Agent Gadhavi looked Puck straight in the eye. "If there was any gunpowder residue on your hands, it would turn blue when it comes in contact with this solution. Your hands aren't blue, so you clearly you haven't fired a weapon for a while."

"Well, duh, dude!" Puck was getting pissed. What was the point of this? "I could've told you I didn't fire a gun."

"Then why are you still blaming yourself because Pearl was injured and Sam was killed?" Agent Gadhavi asked.

"Because, if I hadn't been there, that guy wouldn't have killed Sam or hurt Pearl!"

Agent Gadhavi shook his head. "How can it be your fault that you rubbed a homicidal maniac the wrong way? And what's more, you need to clean up your act," he jabbed finger in Puck's chest. "There's a woman in there worried enough about your wellbeing to let you live with her who got hurt trying to protect you. And there's another girl out there who just left because she lost her boyfriend because they both ran in to save you. They need all the comfort they can get right now, and if you keep pitying yourself, you're just going to divert attention from them, and that's about the most selfish thing you could do right now. So get your shit together, boy, and go comfort at least one of them!"

Puck nodded. Agent Gadhavi was right. He walked inside and all eyes turned to him, none of them accusing or wary. He shuffled slowly to her bedside and she smiled warmly. "Hey, Puck," she rasped.

"I'm sorry," Kurt Hummel would have been proud of the note he hit if he weren't so busy macking on Pearl's son.

Pearl rolled her eyes. "Are you serious? Wait, are you injured?" she suddenly looked panicked, and Puck realized what Agent Gadhavi meant about her needing comfort. Quickly, he assured her he wasn't.

"Okay," she said, sinking slowly back into the pillows. Her breathing evened out, signaling that she was asleep.

"Well, that makes two times she should have died and two live surgeries in two months," Horatio said, voice either emotionless or filled with too much emotion to identify all at once.

"Let's hope she doesn't go for three," Lilly said as the doctor ushered everyone out.

Puck blinked. "What do you mean, live surgery?"

"She had to be fully conscious during surgery," Horatio explained. "There are three types of painkillers; she's allergic to one, one of them thins the blood and makes surgery fatal, and the last kind causes bleeding in the area she was shot in."

Puck felt a little sick. Judging by the looks on his friends' and teachers' faces, he wasn't the only one.

"I can take you home," Will offered Blaine.

"Actually, no you can't," said Sue, walking toward them through the hospital's automatic double-doors.

* * *

><p>"Why can't we stay at the Puckermans'?" Blaine asked his mother.<p>

"Because Art Earl hit that house with a flamethrower before he came over to ours," Pearl answered. "So, we're going to Emily's house, and I expect Noah to be able to keep it in his pants," she said mock-threateningly with a faux-glare.

Puck smirked and began to thrust his hips. Pearl and Blaine immediately looked away, and Puck's smirk grew bigger.

Emily was outside ready to greet them when they exited Pearl's car. She offered to help Blaine and Pearl with their bags, but stopped Puck in his tracks before he could enter her house.

"You get my daughter pregnant, I rip off your testicles with my bare hands and force feed them to you." unlike Pearl's voice just moments ago, her tone was completely serious and terrifying enough to make Puck gulp. "Got it?"

Puck nodded, trying not to hit Kurt's F by whimpering.

Emily nodded and resumed helping her friend and Blaine, but decidedly not Puck, with their luggage.

* * *

><p>Another funeral. Blaine wondered if his mother ever got sick of them. Agents Gadhavi and Souveloy knew they were. Detectives Sai and Bef wondered when they would be. Emily wondered if her daughter would fall apart during it. Lauren wondered the exact opposite. Puck wondered if he could cuddle up to his girlfriend and avoid her mother at the same time. Finn wondered if Sam would still be here if he didn't feel such a need to prove himself after Finn took quarterback away from him. Kurt wondered how he and Sam would sound together in a duet. Rachel wondered if Sam was glad he joined Glee and that she had thrown the competition for him. Quinn wondered if all this guilt for having cheated on him had ever hit her as hard as it did now. Santana wished she had been nicer to Sam while they had dated. Brittany wondered why Lord Tubbington sat as far from the casket as he could.<p>

Mercedes wondered if keeping her relationship with Sam a secret for so long had been a good idea. He seemed so happy after the truth came out during another Rachel Berry House-Party Trainwreck Extravaganza, happier than she had ever seen him.

"It doesn't matter," Pearl said behind the girl. Mercedes whirled around. She hadn't talked to Blaine's mother since she had walked out on her at the hospital. She felt a little guilty for it, but that guilt paled in comparison to the guilt triggered by how much she still wished that Pearl had died instead of Sam.

"What doesn't?" Mercedes hated herself for how rude and cruel she must sound right now.

"He died during one of the happiest times in his life," Pearl said kindly. "And he died in three minutes; it took two seconds for him to pass out."

Mercedes shrugged. She looked back at the casket and started to cry as her friends started to sing. She took the first line, Rachel joined her with the second, Quinn jumped in with the third, and Tina entered the fray with the fourth. It was just the four of them for the fifth line, but then Puck, Artie, and Finn sang the sixth line together, before Finn dropped out of the seventh and Artie dropped out of the eighth. Lauren, Santana, and Brittany sang the ninth line, then Brittany and Santana sang the tenth line, and Santana alone sang the eleventh. Kurt, Blaine, and Mike sang the next three lines together. Finally, everyone, even Pearl and Agent Gadhavi, sang the final line.

_"Aggressively, we all defend the role we play._  
><em>Regrettably, time's come to send you on your way.<em>  
><em>We've seen it all, bonfires of trust, flash floods of pain.<em>  
><em>It doesn't really matter don't you worry it'll all work out.<em>  
><em>No it doesn't even matter don't you worry what it's all about.<em>  
><em>We hope you enjoyed your stay.<em>  
><em>It's good to have you with us, even if it's just for the day.<em>  
><em>We hope you enjoyed your stay.<em>  
><em>Outside the sun is shining, seems like heaven ain't far away.<em>  
><em>It's good to have you with us, even if it's just for the day.<em>  
><em>It's good to have you with us, even if it's just for the day.<em>  
><em>Outside the sun is shining, seems like heaven ain't far away.<em>  
><em>It's good to have you with us, even if it's just for the day.<em>  
><em>It's good to have you with us, even if it's just for the day.<em>  
><em>Outside the sun is shining, seems like heaven ain't far away."<em>

The second half of the last line seemed to echo forever in the cemetery, and if you listened closely, said voice sounded familiar and choked with tears.

"Don't cry, Sammy," Stevie said, grabbing for Stacy's hand.

* * *

><p><em>I'm picturing this in the same graveyard Elizabeth Hummel was buried in, and the camera should pan away from Stevie and Stacy's joined hands (they're Sam's younger brother and sister) before fading to black.<em>

_I don't ever cry when I write, except for "Perhaps they'll listen now" and that was probably because I was grieving. But I'll admit, I teared up a little bit when I wrote this, probably because I put myself in the space of all these characters wondering what they could have done for their friend._

_There will be a crack!fic after this (my very first foray into fantasy, wish me luck) that takes place before the funeral but at a later time for one particular character here. Basically, it's Sam's greatest sci-fi dream come true, I think. I'm not as much of a nerd as he was, so I'll get everything wrong._

__Okay, I hope you guys enjoyed this! I hope you laughed and cried and sat at the edge of your seats. I hope you don't feel like slushying me. I hope you guys review. Thanks for joining me on this ride.__


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